Abstract
Food systems are central to our very planetary existence, yet they are not fit for purpose in the 21st century because of the enormous damage they do to the environment and human health. Transforming food systems to optimize human health, ecological health, social equity and economic prosperity will require major changes in power dynamics between players to shift the status quo. The purpose of this paper is to assess these power dynamics and the opportunities for the Great Intergenerational Food Transformation (GIFT)—how this current generation in power can transform food systems within one generation for future generations. The current ‘policy inertia’ preventing food policy action is due to the strong opposition from the commercial food sector, the reluctance of governments to regulate and tax, and the lack of demand for policy action from civil society. The translation of the market power of large food industries into self-serving political power is the dominant barrier to action. The most promising systemic lever for holding the major power players (governments and food industries) to account for the GIFT is increasing the power of civil society (including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), researchers, professional societies and the public) to demand changes in the political economy of food.
Highlights
We are about one fifth into the 21st century and it is abundantly clear that the food systems which evolved last century through the Green Revolution, massive global population growth, globalization of trade in goods and services, neoliberal economics, and the increasing concentration of market power in the hands of food company oligopolies are not fit-for-purpose for the challenges we face in this century [1]
The Global Syndemic is the paramount challenge to planetary health, including human health
A central driver for the syndemic are food systems that are not delivering the outcomes needed for the 21st century
Summary
We are about one fifth into the 21st century and it is abundantly clear that the food systems which evolved last century through the Green Revolution, massive global population growth, globalization of trade in goods and services, neoliberal economics, and the increasing concentration of market power in the hands of food company oligopolies are not fit-for-purpose for the challenges we face in this century [1]. The Global Burden of Disease group combined the three major nutrition risk factors that they measure (high body mass index (BMI), dietary risks for NCDs, and maternal and child undernutrition) into a single risk factor of malnutrition in all its forms for the Lancet Commission on Obesity report [4] This combined risk accounts for almost 20% of the global disability life-years (DALYs) lost, more than double the burden created by the biggest risk factors of tobacco use and high blood pressure. In every region and in every country, malnutrition in all its forms is the biggest cause of DALY loss, the mix of nutrition problems within that overall risk factor differs from low-income countries (larger proportion from undernutrition) to high-income countries (larger proportion from high BMI and dietary risks for NCDs) Another shift in thinking is needed from the usual linear view of food-supply chains or food-value chains to considering all food-related activities as part of food systems which are complex, dynamic, and adaptive. This is where power dynamics are most evident—who gets to decide what rules are set and enforced, how the economic incentives and disincentives are applied, and what norms and expectations are placed on people and organisations
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